Null operators, ellipsis, and scrambling

Abstract

Move is subject to phase-based locality, whereas Agree is not, a natural consequence of cyclic linearization. Then, null operator movement, having no impact on linearization, should be immune to certain phase-related effects. I show that this prediction is borne out, based on the interactions between (null operator) movement and ellipsis. Furthermore, I extend the present proposal to scrambling in Japanese. It turns out that the observed correlation between movement and ellipsis helps us choose among competing theories of scrambling. Specifically, theoretical as well as empirical considerations support an analysis of scrambling in Japanese as involving either null operator movement or PF movement.